Chute counter

ABSTRACT

An object counting and collecting device having a number of chutes mounted in an array on a frame that can be hung on a fence. Each individual chute is identifiable by a unique color and/or number and includes a counter for counting objects dropped therein. A basket can be optionally attached to the frame below the chutes to catch the counted objects as they exit the chutes by gravitational force. A game can be played using the counting chutes wherein one or more players are assigned to a specific chute and the number of objects, e.g., balls, collected by the player are counted as the player deposit the objects into the chute. A winner of this game may be determined by the most number of objects collected.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention is directed to a system and method for collectingand counting the number of items. In particular, the present inventionis directed to such a system and method that provides means for trackingthe count of the number of balls collected by one or more individuals.

2. Description of the Related Art

U.S. Pat. No. 5,340,179 to Rubin discloses a ball retriever having acounter and an upstanding collection tube. The ball retriever allows agolf ball to enter through its bottom end having a checking assembly toallow balls to travel only in one direction. The balls are finallycollected in a flexible fabric cover positioned at an upper end of thecollection tube. The counter may be a mechanical counter actuated by auser or an electrical counter automatically actuated as a ball entersthe collection tube.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,063,769 to Zimmer and U.S. Pat. No. 3,558,170 toStanworth disclose golf ball retrievers that operate in similar mannerto that of Rubin but without a counter.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,188,410 to Summers discloses a deformable ballretrieving, retaining and dispensing device including an elongatedtubular member. Summers does not disclose a ball counter.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,834,701 to Hashimoto relates to a basketball gameamusement device. This device includes a mechanism for keeping track ofthe number of balls passing through the opposing baskets. The device isfully enclosed and is of a small scale to allow for its tabletopapplication and fingertip play.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,246,225 to Matherne et al. discloses an arcade gameapparatus including a plurality of baskets or apertures for receivingballs and means for counting the number of balls passing through eachbasket or aperture. The balls are returned to the player after passingthrough the basket to be re-shot as often as possible within apredetermined time period.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,575,081 to Cavanagh discloses a tennis ball recoverysystem which utilizes an elastic screen extending the width of the backfence of the court and suspended from a back fence and is joined to atrough that lies on the ground. A feed screw is provided at the bottomof the screen which feeds the balls retrieved by the screen to a centralpoint where they are discharged into a bucket.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One advantage of the present invention is to provide at least onecounting means for counting the number of objects (e.g., balls) beingcollected by one or more individuals and automatically placing theobjects in a container by gravity.

Another advantage of the present invention is provide color coding for acounting means to facilitate the identification thereof.

Another advantage of the present invention is provide number coding fora counting means to facilitate the identification of each countingmeans.

Yet another advantage of the present invention is to provide a game ininvolving collecting balls by one or more individuals, wherein thenumber of balls collected by each individual is counted by one or morechute counters.

A still further advantage of the present invention is to provide a gameto motivate ball players, such as golf, tennis, baseball, etc., to pickup balls used during their game or practice.

Still another advantage of the present invention is to provide anaccounting means for keep track of the number of balls available.

Yet another advantage of the present invention is to provide a simpleand easy method to collect, count and store items such as balls, hockeypucks, toys, etc.

These and other advantages and features of the present invention willbecome more apparent from the following detailed description of thepreferred embodiments of the present invention when viewed inconjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The patent application file contains at least one drawing executed incolor. Copies of this patent or patent application publication withcolor drawings will be provided by the Office upon request and paymentof the necessary fee.

FIG. 1 is a front view of the chute counter of the present invention inan operative position;

FIG. 2A is a front view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 2B is a side view of the chute counter of FIG. 2A;

FIG. 3A is a front view of a plastic molding for the chute counter ofFIG. 2A;

FIG. 3B is a profile view of the plastic molding for the chute counterof FIG. 2A

FIG. 4 is an example of color coding and number coding a chute;

FIG. 5 is an expanded partial view of a chute counter of the presentinvention; and

FIG. 6 is a front and expanded view of the chute counter of the presentinvention;

FIG. 7A illustrates a chute counter of the present invention with astorage basket for catching counted balls;

FIG. 7B illustrates side view the a ball chute counter of FIG. 7A;

FIG. 8 illustrates a basket for catching and holding items counted bythe chute counter of the present invention; and

FIG. 9 illustrates a chute attachment for hanging a basket at differentheights on the chute counter.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

FIG. 1 is an exemplary embodiment of a chute counter of the presentinvention. As shown, the chute counter 1 is a counting and collectingdevice with means for attaching itself to a fence 6. The chute counterincludes a number of individual chutes 2 mounted on a frame, whichincludes a backing 8 to which the chutes 2 are attached, hooks 5 forhanging the chutes 2 on a fence 6, and a basket attaching means 3 towhich an optional basket 7 can be attached to the chute counter 1 forcatching and storing counted objects. Backing 8 may be of a flexiblematerial or a sectionalized rigid board so as to allow the chute counterto be rolled or folded up into a compact size for easy transportationand storage.

As shown in FIG. 1, tennis balls, as an example, are being counted asthey are dropped through the chutes. Although tennis balls are shown asbeing counted by the chute counter 1, other objects may also be counted.Objects that may be counted include golf balls, hockey pucks, baseballs,softballs, or the like.

FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention which is directed to a tennis chute having a built-in counterfor counting the number of tennis balls entering the chute 2. A numberof these chutes are combined together and hung on a wall or fence 6 viahooks 5, such as those shown in FIG. 6. A basket 7, such as shown inFIGS. 6-9, is optionally provided below the chutes to catch the tennisballs that have entered the chutes at the top and fall into thecollecting container below by gravitational force.

Each of the chutes may be assigned a color and/or number for easyidentification such as by identification 4, as shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 4illustrates an example of applying a color and a number to each chute.As shown, adhesive labels 41 and 42 are easily attached to the chute 2.Adhesive labels may be printed with numbers, letters, names, etc. withdesirable colors or patterns. An alternative to using adhesive labels isto apply paint or dye directly onto the chute via silk-screening orspray painting, etc.

FIG. 5 illustrates a chute 2 with a built-in counter 50. The counter maybe mechanical or digital and preferably with a means for resetting thecounter. As shown, the counter is preferably located near the top of thechute. However, other locations may be used to attach the counter 50.

The optional basket attached to the counting chute may be adjustablypositioned heightwise, as shown in FIGS. 7A, 7B and FIG. 9 viaattachment posts 3 with protruding notches 11 for which to hang latticedbasket 7 at different heights. FIG. 9 shows posts 3 in an expanded viewshowing a frontal view 10 and side profile view 9.

The counting chute may be manufactured using a mold for molding plastic,such as that shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B. The final product may be aone-piece device made of plastic having a number of chutes 2 gangedtogether. Other material, such as metal, paper, or a composite of paperand plastic may also be used. Each chute 2 may be curvilineared, i.e.,curved or bent (not shown), rather than linear and tubular as shown inFIGS. 1-9. An advantage of having curvilinear chutes is that the openingthrough which objects are fed into the chutes may be spread apart fromeach other but still have their exiting orifice positioned closer toeach other so that a compact basket or container could be used to catchthe objects being counted.

A significant purpose of the chute counter is to turn the chore ofcollecting tennis balls, for example, into a game for young tennisplayers who may not be motivated to pick up tennis balls at practicesessions. Each player is assigned a tube having a particular color ornumber, and he/she must put the tennis balls that he/she collects in theassigned tube. As the chore is made into a game, the player who collectsthe most number of balls wins. Of course, the built-in counter keepstrack of the number of balls each player collects.

The above described system and method may be implemented in anyappropriate manner. In particular, the present invention mayadvantageously be implemented in a foldable format so that a compactfootprint is achieved for storage and transport.

While various embodiments in accordance with the present invention havebeen shown and described, it is understood that the invention is notlimited thereto. The present invention may be changed, modified andfurther applied by those skilled in the art. Therefore, this inventionis not limited to the detail shown and described previously, but alsoincludes all such changes and modifications.

1. An apparatus for counting and collecting a number of objects,comprising: a frame; a plurality of gravity-fed chutes attached to theframe; a counter associated with each of the chute for counting a numberof object passing therethrough; identification means for distinguishingeach of the plurality of chutes from one another; and a receptacleremovably attached to the frame for collecting and storing countedobjects.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality ofchutes includes a top orifice located at a top end portion for receivingthe object and a bottom orifice located at a bottom end portion for theobject to egress.
 3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein each of theplurality of chutes is of a cylindrical shape having a substantiallyconstant diameter throughout the entire chute.
 4. The apparatus of claim2, wherein the identification means is colorized.
 5. The apparatus ofclaim 2, wherein the identification means is numbered.
 6. An apparatusof claim 2, wherein the top orifice of each of the plurality of chutesis flared like a funnel so as to facilitate the reception and guidanceof objects into the chute.
 7. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein eachchute is a curvilinear tube having a bent portion at a lower end portionsuch that all the bottom orifices of the plurality of chutes converge toallow all counted objects to fall into approximately the same area suchthat a compact receptacle may be used to catch and store the countedobjects; and the plurality of the chutes are in a linear array and aresubstantially equally spaced apart at the top portion end portion. 8.The apparatus of claim 2, wherein each of the chute is a linear tube;and the plurality of the chutes are in a linear array.
 9. The apparatusof claim 2, wherein the frame is foldable for facilitating transport andstorage.
 10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the counter includes areset for resetting the counter to zero.
 11. The apparatus of claim 1,further comprising hook means attached to the frame for suspending theapparatus.
 12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the receptacle beingheight-adjustable relative to the plurality of chutes.
 13. A game usingan apparatus for counting and collecting objects, the apparatus having aframe, a plurality of gravity-fed chutes attached to the frame, acounter associated with each of the chute for counting a number ofobject passing therethrough, identification means for distinguishingeach of the plurality of chutes from one another, and a receptacleremovably attached to the frame for collecting and storing countedobjects, said game comprising: assigning each of a number of players toone of the plurality of chutes; signaling the commence of gatheringobjects and placing gathered objects in the assigned chute; andrecording the number of counted object collected by each player afterall the objects are collected or after a predetermined period of timehas lapsed.